Our Family

Monday, July 27, 2009

Mercedes is growing like crazy!! I've been a really bad blogger lately, so she's done tons of new stuff lately. She is practically running now. She just decided one day to start walking and she really doesn't stop. That's not just a phrase either. She literally walks from one room into another, into the next, turning around and walking out again. Just to walk. That is why she is getting so much better. You'd never guess that she was such a late walker. She is also learning to climb. She LOVES slides and swings. She is like Avri in that she wants to try new things all the time. She isn't a chicken like Talmage. This slide is at my parents' house and she just goes up and down and up and back down!She is learning to talk much better as well! She says quite a few things now. She says "CHEESE" every time you get out the camera and this is what it looks like.She adores dogs, as well as all other animals. She is mostly good-natured, but doesn't like being held still for any amount of time. We had to get a blood draw to test for celiac (which came back negative, yeah!) and she was much more upset about being held still than she was about the needle drawing her blood. She wants to be big and help. She watches and mimics everything. Here she is helping us prepare to plant an herb garden. (I know, 3 gardens is a little much.) She still makes everyone laugh and I get comments every day almost about how cute she is with her glasses. And it's true. She is weary of strangers if they come up to her, but if she is with Mommy then she waves at everyone in the store saying "Hi." She is 16 months now, which means that we should have another baby by now, but we don't! She is much smaller than our other kids, only 40% for her weight and 50% for height. Not the 97% that Avri always was. She is just getting her 5th and 6th teeth, but is also working on molars.We just love her dearly. We are starting to have to chastise her for throwing fits when she doesn't get her way. She is harder to discipline than the other kids because she is too cute when she causes trouble. But I'm trying not to let myself fall into that pit. I can't believe that she is a toddler now! Time goes so fast!

We don't have ANY pictures of Kendall at scout camp. Why? Because I guess I'm the picture taker in the family and I wasn't there. But Kendall really had a great time at scout camp! He was gone July 13-18th, so 6 whole days without my sweetheart! The last time that I was without him for that long was his mission! He doesn't have a cell phone so we actually didn't even get to talk the whole time which I was sad about. I admit that I was REALLY nervous about being home a full week without Kendall and with 3 small children, but it went tons better than I thought it would. I found that without Kendall I really rely on a schedule and then things run smoothly. That didn't mean that I missed him any less, just that I was able to handle things. Here is a shot of the boys, and the next one I thought was a good picture of one of the scouts (one of Kendall's favorites, shhh, don't tell!) at the shooting range. I heard some pretty crazy stories from that one!It really sounds like all of them had lots of fun. Kendall came back looking quite tan and I had forgotten just how handsome he really is. He actually walked in the door and looked at me and gave me a funny smile. Later he told me that he had forgotten that I had cut my hair, so I took him by surprise! Haha. It's been cut for over 2 months now! So funny.

This is my new goal: to become a domestic goddess! We planted flowers...A kind lady in the ward was giving away a bunch of perrennials and we found some free mulch. Sooo... we made flower beds. We still have to add tulips and daffodils and other pretty things, but it feels like a home with flowers in the yard!This week I'm learning how to can. I've canned my first batch of pickles and I helped my parents with green beans. Yuck! But the point is that I learned how to do it, even though my family won't eat them. Now that the garden is producing vegetables faster than we can dream to eat them I will be learning all sorts of methods for food preservation: canning, freezing, dehydrating. I think I'll be busy for the next couple of months.Mmmm, can't wait for them to cure.

I don't like them. I'm getting better about bugs and not wigging out. I can even kill a spider when it poses an imminent threat. But give me a break!! These are gross. This first was is "just" and June bug and I don't know if they can even hurt you, but they are NASTY and this one was actually attacking me in my bedroom on a night that Kendall was gone camping with the scouts. I had to take care of it myself. I'm sure I was quite the embarrassment to myself.And this one was outside (thank goodness) but Kendall wanted to show it to the kids. Does that look scary or what?Yes, we moved to the land of bugs.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Here are some pictures of the gardens we are growing (I told you I'd put them up Ammon). This is garden #1.And here is garden #2. We have harvested lots of peas, squash, zucchini, hot peppers, broccoli, carrots, onions, spinach, lettuce, and our dill is ready. I'm really waiting for the tomatoes and very excited for them to start ripening. I'm sure enjoying reaping the benefits of our hard work. And I'm looking forward to lots of work canning tomatoes and salsa and pickles and... who knows what else I'll try. Yeah for gardens!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

People think that I'm kidding when I say that Kendall works hard for fun. He ENJOYS chopping wood and lifting heavy objects and working so hard that he needs a shower. The other day Kendall told me that he hopes he finds a job soon so that he doesn't have to work so hard. :) haha. That is the truth though. Here are the latest projects and continuations of previous ones.

Here is the grass, you can barely tell that it is new and that only a couple of months ago it was only dirt. You can't really tell, but we planted 4 butterfly bush starts in the front beds. They look like they might not make it, but if they do we will have some beautiful purple flowers and lots of butterflies soon.This is my finished brick work. We still have to finish the bricks going along the sidewalk and add mulch to the beds. But now the ground won't wash away.Here is what we get for help. The kids fight over who gets to sit in this "new" car. They ALL love it. Look at that face! :)And this is Kendall's next project: a retaining wall in the back yard.Kendall laying the first blocks. I had no idea how much work it was going to take to get them perfectly straight and level, or what a perfectionist of a husband I have!Avri helped by entertaining Macie.Looking good Hun!I like to watch him work so hard. :)This picture really doesn't do it justice, but this is how much of the wall he was able to finish in one afternoon! These bricks are HUGE! They are about 16" wide and I can barely lift one by myself. The next thing we are putting in are the stairs up to the top terrace.We do occasionally play too. We had a nice little picnic outside Sunday night since we have a break from the hot humid weather. Don't I have such a cute little family? I sure love this bunch!